Puncher for marking devices

ABSTRACT

A puncher for marking devices, consisting of single reciprocating press ram, a line of punch pins aligned below the press ram with a spacing therefrom. Spacers are selectively inserted between the press ram and the corresponding punch pins, for depressing those punch pins by the press ram which face the spacers thus inserted, for punching a sheet-like material. By controlling the spacers, a plurality of mark holes are bored at a time. The material to be punched may be fed slowly during the actual punching of mark holes, but quickly for spaces between marks.

United States Patent Tsukihashi 1 Dec. 12, 1972 [54] PUNCHER FOR MARKING DEVICES Primary Examiner-Francis Si Husar [7 2] Inventor: Kazunobu Tsukihashi, No. 168, Attorney-Kurt Kelman Kami-cho, Yokohama, A puncher for marking devices, consisting of single [22] Flled May 1971 reciprocating press ram, a line of punch pins aligned [21] Appl. N0.: 147,361 below the press ram with a spacing therefrom. Spacers are selectively inserted between the press ram and the corresponding punch pins, for depressing those punch [30] Fore'gn Apphcamn Pnomy Dam pins by the press ram which face the spacers thus in- June 3,1970 Japan ..45/4s219 Serted, for Punching a Sheet-like material y trolling the spacers, a plurality of mark holes are 52 US. Cl ..-...234/s7, 234/126. bored at a im The materi l' be punched may be [51] Int. Cl. ..G06k 1/02 fed slowly during the actual punching of mark ol [58] Field of Search ..-;..234/s7, 126, 19, 28 but q y for spaces between marks- 56] References Cited 5 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures UNITED STATES PATENTS 966,965 8/1910 Thompson ..234/8'l PROGRAM SELECTOR PULSE MOT- OR DRIVING CCT INFORMATION PATENTED DEC 12 I972 SHEET 2 OF 3 INVENTOR U-Ndrmmnsm AGL'NT PATENTED nu: 12 I972 SHEET 3 [IF 3 COO TIME

INVENTOR knzunolu. Isa-mans AGNT PUNCI'IERFOR MARKING DEVICES This invention relates to a puncher for marking devices, and more particularly to a puncher capable of quickly and reliably boring holes on sheet-like material for the purpose of marking.

An object of the present invention is to improve the speed and reliability of the boring operation in marking devices, and to make it possible to punch more holes in one operation as compared with conventional punchers.

According to the present invention, there is provided a puncher for marking devices which comprises a rotary shaft driven by a prime mover; V

' a converter connected to the shaft and converting the shaft rotation into vertical reciprocation; p

a signal diskcoaxially secured to the rotary shaft, the disk having at least two series of speed pulse holes bored therethrough along concentric circles aboutthe center of the disk except a non-bored rest sector and an address timing pulse hole bored therethrough;

an elongated press ram being vertically reciprocated by the converter;

a given number of punch pins aligned below the press ram with a vertical spacing from the bottom surface of the press ram when the press rarn assumes the lowermostposition of the vertical reciprocation actuated by the converter;

spacers being normally offset from the path of the vertical reciprocation but selectively insertible between the bottom of the press ram and the corresponding punch pins when the press ram assumes'its uppermost position, the spacers having one-to-one correspondence with the punch pins respectively, the spacer being so dimensioned that those spacers which are in serted between the press ram and the punch pins act to depress the corresponding punch pins for punching a material in response to the vertical reciprocation of the press ram;

a mark order means receiving signals representing marks to be punched and generating spacer actuating signals in response to the'signals thus received, the spacer actuating signals consisting of a series of signal groups, each signal group having the same number of signal pulse positions as the given number of punch pins for punching a line of holes on the material, the line of holes representing picture elements on a corresponding line of the marks to be punched, the mark order means generating a feed-switching signal for selecting the speed at which the material is fed;

a light source facing one side surface of the signal disk;

transducers facing the light source across the signal disk, the transducers being aligned with each of the concentric circles of speed pulse holes and the address timing pulse hole, respectively, in one-to-one correspondence;

a program selector circuit receiving signals from transducers aligned with the concentric circles of speed pulse holes and selectively passing the signals from one of the transducers to output thereof, depending on the feed-switching signals from the mark order means;

a spacer driving circuit passing the spacer actuating signals to spacer actuators, with timing intervals determined by the output from the transducer aligned with the address timing pulse hole, so as to actuate selected spacers; and

a material feeder driven by signals at the output of the program selector circuit.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. I is a schematic block diagram ofa puncher according to the present invention;

1 FIG. 2 is a perspective view, illustrating the relation between a press ram and spacers in the puncher;

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic illustration of a signal disk;

FIG. 4 isan example of marks to be punched by the puncher; and

FIG. Sis a chart showing the timing of the punching operation. r

In FIG. 1,.a motor 1 drives a crankshaft 2 journalled by bearings 4, 5 and carrying a signal disk 3 coaxially secured to the free end thereof. The signal disk 3 has two series of holes; namely, high speed pulse holes a1, a2, an, disposed along a larger circle concentric with the disk 3, and low-speed pulse holes b1, b2,

bm, disposed on a smaller circle concentric with the larger circle, as shown in FIG. 3. No holes are, however, bored in a rest zone representing about sector of the disk 3. The signal disk 3 also includes an address timing pulse hole c a bored at a predetermined position thereof. 3

The crankshaft 2 has an offset crank arm 2a, which is connected to one end of a link lever 6 having the opposite end connected to the rod 1 of a press ram 8. The press ram 8 consists of a comparatively wide elongated plate, as shown in FIG. 2. The press ram 8 is slidably held by a pair of guides 9 and 10, each having U-shaped cross section. Accordingly, the ram 8 vertically reciprocates under the guidance of the guides 9 and 10, in response to the rotation of the crankshaft 2.

A spacer assembly 11 coacting with the press ram 8 includes spacer elements llal, 1Ia2, llan, which are controlled by spacer actuators or solenoids 11b1, 11b2, 11b3, respectively. The number n of the spacer elements is identical with the number of punch pins 12a1, l2a2, .I2an. The spacer elements are so disposed that, when the press ram 8 assumes the highest position in its vertical stroke, the lower end surface of the ram 8 is on the same level as the top surface of the spacer elements llal to Ilan. The spacer elements llal to llan are normally horizontally offset from the vertical path of the press ram 8. The actuators llbl to llbn are selective actuated so as to force the corresponding spacer elements toward the press ram 8 for actuating the corresponding ones of the press pins I2a1 to 12m, by causing the spacer elements to engage the press ram 8.

More particularly, each spacer actuator llbl to I lbn has a rod means B made of magnetic material for urging the corresponding spacer element llal to llan underneath the press ram 8 in response to spacer actuating signals from a spacer driving circuit 26, and a V ram 8 but slightly spaced from the lower end surface of the press ram 8 even when the ram 8 assumes its lower most position.

Material 14 to be punched is delivered to the space between the top surface of a punch table 15 and the bottom surface of the stationary strippers 13a2 of the pin'holders 13. The punch table 15 supports the material 14 during punching operation. The material 14 to be punched can be comparatively thin soft sheets, such as board paper, vinyl resin sheets,,fibrous sheets, metalplated paper sheets, etc. According to a feature of the present invention, the material 14 can also be comparatively thick hard metallic sheets. The material 14 is delivered by feed rolls 16 in response to the actuation of drive rolls 17 driven by a pulse motor 18.

' A light source 19 is disposed so as face aradius of the signal disk 3. Infthe embodiment of FIG. 1, a tubular lamp having a length substantially corresponding to the radius of the disk 3 is used as the light source 19. Instead of the tubular lamp, three separate bulbs may be used as the light source 19 by disposing them at positions facing the paths of the high-speed pulse holes, low-speed pulse holes, and the address timing pulse hole, respectively. Three transducers 20, 21, and 22, e.g., phototransistors, are disposed on the opposite side of the signal disk 3 to the light source 19, in such a manner that the transducer 20 faces the path or locus of the high-speed pulse holes a1, a2, the transducer 21 faces the path or locus of the low-speed pulse holes b1, b2, and the transducer 22 faces the path or locus of theaddress timing pulse hole c, respectively.

Referring to FIG. 4, each mark to be punched, e.g., a letter or a numeral, is represented by a plurality of picture elements. Information signals representing such picture elements are applied to a first input terminal d1 of a mark order means 23, as shown in FIG. 1. The mark order'means 23 also includes a second input terminal d2 connected to the output from the spacer driving circuit 26 through an OR element 27, an output terminal e0, and n auxiliary output terminals e1 to en.

For the sake of explanation, let it be assumed that the two mark groups of FIG. 4, namely AB-l and 052, are going to be punched on the material 14, by dividing the marks into a plurality of picture element lines 11, 12, for punching one line at a time. It should be understood that the present invention is not restricted to such example, but other schemes are also possible within the scope of the invention. In this example, the mark order means 23 transmits the picture element signals or information signals to a spacer driving circuit 26, one line at a time, through a register in the mark order means 23. The output terminal e of the mark order means 23 is connected to an input terminal 3 of the program selector circuit 24, for transmitting feedswitching signals to be described hereinafter. For each line of picture element information, the mark order means 23 also generates actuating signals to its auxiliary output terminals :1 to en. The means 23 includes a counter for counting the output from the OR element 27 connected to the output from the spacer driving circuit 26, which counter acts to cause the mark order means 23 to generate a feed-switching signal. The feedswitching signal is applied to the input terminal 3 of the program selector circuit 24 through the output terminal c0 of the mark order means 23. In response to the feed-switching signal, the program selector circuit 24 selectively passes either high-speed pulses or lowspeed pulses.

If picture element signals are applied to the mark order means 23-one line at a time, the shift register of the means 23 can be dispensed with.

In addition to the aforesaid input terminal g, the program selector circuit 24 includes twomore input terminals fl and 12 connected to the transducers 20 and 21, respectively, and an outputer terminal h. The function of the program selector circuit 24 is to select either the high-speed pulses delivered to the input terminal fl or the low-speed pulses delivered to the input terminal f2, depending on the feed-switching signal delivered to its input terminal so as to apply the selected signals to its output terminal h. The output signals at the terminal h is applied to a pulse motor driving circuit 25, which actuates the pulse motor 18 in response to the output from the program selector circuit 24. Thus, the pulse motor 18 is actuated either at a high-speed or at a lowspeed, depending on whether' the high-speed pulse signals or the low-speed signals are applied to the pulse motor driving circuit 25.

The spacer driving circuit 26 has an input terminal j receiving the output signals from the transducer 22, n auxiliary input terminals k1 to kn receiving signals from the corresponding output terminals e1 to en of the mark order means 23, and n output terminals ml to mn. The signal applied to the input terminal j of the spacer driving circuit 26, i.e., the address timing pulse, controls the timing of the delivery of spacer actuating signals from the auxiliary input terminals k1 to kn to the output terminals ml to mn, and further to the corresponding spacer actuators llbl to llbn, respectivey- The OR element 27 has n input terminals pl'to pn, which are connected to the output terminals ml to nm of the spacer driving circuit 26, respectively.

The operation of the embodiment with the aforesaid construction will now be described. The information or signals representing marks to be punched are set in the mark order means 23, and the pulse motor 18 is actuated. At the same time, the motor 1 is energized, for rotating the crankshaft 2 together with the signaldisk 3. The rotation of the crankshaft 2 actuates the vertical reciprocation of the press ram 8 through the link lever 6 and the rod 7. The uppermost position of the press ram 8 during the reciprocation is shown by solid lines in FIG. 1, while its lowermost position is shown by dotted lines. Unless either one of the spacer elements 1la1 to llan is forced underneath the press ram 8, none of the punch pins l2al to 12an is depressed by the downward movement of the press ram 8 to the lowermost position.

On the other hand, if anyone of the spacer elements llal to llan, for instance the spacer element 1143, is moved below the press ram 8, the corresponding punch pin, for instance the pin 12413, is depressed by the press ram 8 through-the spacer element 11:13, so as to punch a or bore the material by the punch pine ms. The

material 14 should, of course, be kept stationary during such punching operation.

More particularly, the press ram 8 is large enough and strong enough to simultaneously depress all the punch pins 12a] to 12m: if all the spacer elements llal to llan are moved below the press ram 8. In operation, selected ones of the spacer elements llal to llan are moved below the press ram 8 at the moment determined by the address timing pulse,'in response to the pulse holes are disposed, as shown :in FIG. 3. With such dispositiomif the number of the high-speed pulse holes (al to an) is designated by N while designating the number of the low-speed pulse holes (b1 to bm) by M,

then N is definitely greater than M,.because the. circumference of the circle connecting the former holes is longer than the corresponding circumference for the latter holes. Since the transducers 20 and 21 act to generate pulses ,in response to incident light beams thereto from the common light source 19 through the high-speed pulse holes and the low-speed pulse holes bored through the same signal disk 3, the number of the high-speed pulses generated by the transducer in a unittime is greater than the number of the low-speed pulses generated by the other transducer2l in the same unit time.

The revolving speed of the-pulse motor; 18 is I generally proportional to the number of pulses applied of the mark group to bepunched along that line,'are

simultaneously bored on the material 14 in one stroke. Similarly, all other lines representing the mark groups can be bored on the material 14 in succession.

In the case that a plurality of rows of mark groups, such as two rows of AB-1 and 052 of FIG. 4, are to be punched, the space between the rows, such as the thereto per unit time, provided that the duration and the magnitude of the individual pulses are kept constant. If the same spacing is used for two adjacent pulse holes for both the high-speed pulse holes (al to an) and for the low-speed pulse holes (b1 to bm), as shown in space between the row of AB-1 and the other row of 052, is often quite wide and covers a number of lines, sometimes several tens of lines for each space between adjacent two rows. In order to efficiently carry out the punching operation, it is preferably to feed the material 14 at a higher speed for lines representing the spaces, wherein no boring is made, than for lines representing the mark groups involving the boringoperations. In the illustrated embodiment, the OR .element 27 acts to select the feeding speed of the material 14. The OR element 27 delivers signals to the mark order means 23 in response to the output signals from the spacer driving circuit 26, so that an accumulator in the mark order means counts the number of lines which have been punched. whereby, for spaces between the adjacent two rows of marks, one kind of signal is delivered to the as to slowly feed the material 14. The quick feeding is effected by passing the high-speed pulses from the transducer 20 to the output terminal h of the program selector circuit 24, wh ile the slow feeding is effected by passing the low-speed pulses from the transducer 21 to the output terminal h. For a given time period, more high-speed pulses are generated than the low-speed pulses, because the number of high-speed pulse holes (01 to an) is larger than the number of the low-speed pulse holes (b1 to bm) on the signal disk 3.

' In the illustrated embodiment, the diameter of all the high-speed and low-speed pulse holes is the same with each other, and the spacing between two adjacent holes is constant bothfor the high-speed pulse holes (:11 to an) and for the low-speed pulse holes (b1 to bm), although the high-speed pulse holes are disposed along a p a larger circle than a circle along which the low-speed FIG. 3, the ratio of the pulse repetition frequency between the high-speed pulses and the low-speed pulses depends on the radius ratio between the two circles connecting the high-speed pulse holes and the lowspeed pulse holes, respectively. Such pulse repetition frequency ratio between the high-speed pulses and the low-speed pulses may also be regulated by making the distance between the adjacent high-speed pulse holes (any two of al to an) different from the distance between the adjacent low-speed pulse holes (any two of b1 to bm). 1

FIG. 5 shows a time chart illustrating the operative mode of different parts of the aforesaid embodiment. In FIG. 5, the curve U represents the locus of a specific point of the press ram 8 during its vertical reciprocation, the curves V, W, and X represent the waveforms of the address timing pulses, the high-speed pulses, and the low-speed pulses generated by the transducers 22, 20, and 21, respectively, and the curve Y represents the waveform of the output signal from the spacer driving circuit 26. I I

At the time t1 when the press ram8 assumes its uppermost position, the transducer element 22 generates an address timing pulse v, as shown in FIG. 5. Consequently, the spacer driving circuit 26 is actuated by the address timing pulse V for passing the spacer actuating signals Y from the mark order means 23 to it output terminals ml to mn. The selected spacer actuator, for instance, the spacer actuator 11b3, is actuated by such signal Y, so as to move the corresponding spacer element, e.g., the spacer element lla3, to a position underneath the press ram 8. The spacer element thus moved is kept underneath the press ram 8 until the time t3.

The other two transducers 20 and 21 are generating the high-speed and low-speed pulses W and X at the time t1, respectively. Theprogram selector circuit 24 delivers either the high-speed or the low-speed pulses to the pulse motor driving circuit-25 in the aforesaid manner. For lines representing marks to be punched, the circuit 24 selects the low-speed pulses for feeding the material 14 at a low-speed to a punch line position by the time :2, and then the pulse motor 18 comes to rest for keeping the material 14 stationary.

During the time period t2 to t4, the material 14 is kept stationary, because the rest sector of the signal disk 3 of FIG. 3 faces the light source 19. Since there is nohigh-speed and low-speed pulse holes in the rest zone, light beams from the light source 19 are prevented from becoming incident to the transducers 20 and 21, so that the two transducers 20 and 21 do not generate any output pulses. Thus, the input to the pulse motor 18, is interrupted, to keep the material 14 stationary. At the moment t3 in the rest period t2 to 14, the press ram,,8 reaches to its lowermost position, as shown by .the waveform U. Accordingly, the selected punch pin, such as 12a3, corresponding to the selected spacer element, such as l1a3, is depressed by the press ram 8, for boring a corresponding hole through the material 14. Thus, the desired punching is effected.

At the end of the rest period t4, the pulse holes of the signal disk 3' again come to the location of the light source 19 for passing the light beams to the transducers 20 and 21, so as to' resume'the generation of the highspeed and low-sped pulses, as shown in FIG. 5. The program'sele ctor circuit 24 selectively delivers such high-speed and low-speed pulses to its output terminal h, so as to drive" the pulse motor 18 at different speeds, depending on the nature of the next succeeding line; namely, if the next succeed line represents any marks to be punched, the pulse motor 18 is driven slowly, but if the next succeeding line represents a space between mark groups, the pulse motor 18 is driven at the highspeed for quickly feeding the material 14. When the press ram 8 comes back to the uppermost position, the puncher becomes ready for the next cycle of operation in the aforesaid manner.

As described in the foregoing disclosure, a puncher according to the present invention comprises an elongated press ram to be vertically reciprocated in response to the rotation of a crankshaft, a plurality of punch pins disposed below said press ram with a spacing therefrom, the punch pins being capable of simultaneously punching a line of mark holes at a time to represent a line of picture elements of the marks to be punched, a plurality of spacers selectively insertible between the press ram and those punch pins which are to be actuated for punching, and a material feeder for feeding the material to be punched underneath the punch pins, whereby, reliable selection of the holes-or marks to be punched can be effected line by line through the regulation of the spacers. The driving mechanism for the press ram, which includes a crankshaft 2 driven by a motor 1 for vertically reciprocating the press ram through a link lever 6, acts to produce a stronger punching force, as compared with conventional pneumatic punchers. The combination of the driving mechanism and light-weight spacers and punch pins ensures faster punching or boring operation, as compared with the operating speed of conventional punchers. The material to be punched according to the present invention is not restricted soft material, but hard material, such as hard metallic plates, can also be punched. With the aforesaid construction, the number of holes to be punched by each stroke of the press ram can be made greater than the corresponding number of conventional punchers.

According to a feature of the invention, the material to be punched is fed or moved during intervals between the aforesaid punching strokes for boring the material line by line, and the feeding speed of the material is controlled by a mark order means, depending on the mark information or punching information in each line. More particularly, feeding speed of the material is low for lines representing at least a part of marks or holes to be punched, but the feeding speed of the material is high for lines representing blank spaces between mark groups. Thus, with the puncher according .to the present invention, the efficiency of punching operation is considerably improved.

The feeding speed of the material is controlled by selectively applying either high-speed or low-speed pul ses to a pulse motor for moving the material. The pulse repetition frequency of such high-speed and low-speed pulses can easily be controlled, simply by regulating the disposition of the high-speed pulse holes and the lowspeed pulse holes on the signal disk 3. The duration of the rest period for the material to be punched is controlled simply by regulating the apex angle of the rest zone of the signal disk 3, and by regulating the revolving speed of the signal disk 3 through the adjustment of the revolving speed of the motor 1.

The crankshaft in the illustrated embodiment can be replaced with an eccentric cam or any other suitable means for converting rotation into reciprocation.

The feeding speed of the material is controlled in two steps in the illustrated embodiment, but three or more steps may be used in the speed regulation by providing three or more series of pulse holes in the signal disk 3.

Although the present invention has been described with a certain degree of particularlity, it is understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

I claim:

1. A puncher for marking devices, comprising a rotary shaft driven by a prime mover;

a converter connected to the shaft and converting the shaft rotation into vertical reciprocation; signal disk coaxially secured to the rotary shaft, said disk having at least two series of speed pulse holes bored therethrough along concentric circles about the center of the disk except a non-bored rest sector and an address timing pulse hole bored therethrough; an elongated press ram being vertically reciprocated by the converter;

a given number of punch pins aligned below the press ram with a vertical spacing from the bottom surface of the press ram when the press ram assumes the lowermost position of said vertical reciprocation actuated by the converter;

spacers being normally offset from the path of said vertical reciprocation but selectively insertible between the bottom of the press ram and the corresponding punch pins when the press ram assumes its uppermost position, the spacers having one-to-one correspondence with said punch pins respectively, the spacer being so dimensioned that those spacers which are inserted between the press ram and the punch pins act to depress the corresponding punch pins for punching a material in response to the vertical reciprocation of the press ram;

a mark order means receiving signals representing marks to be punched and generating spacer actuating signals in response to the signals thus received, said spacer actuator signals consisting of a series of signal groups, each signal group having the same number of signal pulse positions as said actuate selected spacers; and a material feeder driven by signals at the output of the program selector circuit.

2. A puncher for marking devices according to claim 5 1, wherein given number of punch pins for punching a line of holes on the material, said line of holes representing picture elements on a corresponding line of the marks to be punched, said mark order means generating a feed-switching signal for selecting the a spacer driving circuit passing said spacer actuating signals to spacer actuators, with timing intervals determined by the output from the transducer aligned with said address timing pulse hole, so as to said signal disk has a series of high-speed pulse holes, another series of low-speed pulse holes, the number of the former holes being greater than the latter holes, and said address timing pulse hole; and

said material feeder being a pulse motor; whereby, the material is fed slowly by signals generated by the low-speed pulse holes when the marks are being actually punched, but quickly by signals generated by the high-speed pulse holes when no v marks are punched for making spacing between marks. 3. A puncher for marking devices according to claim 1, wherein said transducer aligned with said address timing pulse hole generates an output when said press ram assumes its uppermost position, and the other transducers generate no output signals when said press ram is in a predetermined proximity of its lowermost position, so as to keep the material stationary during the punching.

4. A puncher for marking devices according to claim 1, wherein said spacers are actuated by solenoids and returned by springs, respectively. 5. A puncher for marking devices according to claim 1, wh rein sai transducers are phototransistors. 

1. A puncher for marking devices, comprising a rotary shaft driven by a prime mover; a converter connected to the shaft and converting the shaft rotation into vertical reciprocation; a signal disk coaxially secured to the rotary shaft, said disk having at least two series of speed pulse holes bored therethroUgh along concentric circles about the center of the disk except a non-bored rest sector and an address timing pulse hole bored therethrough; an elongated press ram being vertically reciprocated by the converter; a given number of punch pins aligned below the press ram with a vertical spacing from the bottom surface of the press ram when the press ram assumes the lowermost position of said vertical reciprocation actuated by the converter; spacers being normally offset from the path of said vertical reciprocation but selectively insertible between the bottom of the press ram and the corresponding punch pins when the press ram assumes its uppermost position, the spacers having one-toone correspondence with said punch pins respectively, the spacer being so dimensioned that those spacers which are inserted between the press ram and the punch pins act to depress the corresponding punch pins for punching a material in response to the vertical reciprocation of the press ram; a mark order means receiving signals representing marks to be punched and generating spacer actuating signals in response to the signals thus received, said spacer actuator signals consisting of a series of signal groups, each signal group having the same number of signal pulse positions as said given number of punch pins for punching a line of holes on the material, said line of holes representing picture elements on a corresponding line of the marks to be punched, said mark order means generating a feed-switching signal for selecting the speed at which the material is fed; a light source facing one side surface of the signal disk; transducers facing the light source across the signal disk, the transducers being aligned with each of said concentric circles of speed pulse holes and said address timing pulse hole, respectively, in one-to-one correspondence; a program selector circuit receiving signals from transducers aligned with the concentric circles of speed pulse holes and selectively passing the signals from one of the transducers to output thereof, depending on the feed-switching signal from the mark order means; a spacer driving circuit passing said spacer actuating signals to spacer actuators, with timing intervals determined by the output from the transducer aligned with said address timing pulse hole, so as to actuate selected spacers; and a material feeder driven by signals at the output of the program selector circuit.
 2. A puncher for marking devices according to claim 1, wherein said signal disk has a series of high-speed pulse holes, another series of low-speed pulse holes, the number of the former holes being greater than the latter holes, and said address timing pulse hole; and said material feeder being a pulse motor; whereby, the material is fed slowly by signals generated by the low-speed pulse holes when the marks are being actually punched, but quickly by signals generated by the high-speed pulse holes when no marks are punched for making spacing between marks.
 3. A puncher for marking devices according to claim 1, wherein said transducer aligned with said address timing pulse hole generates an output when said press ram assumes its uppermost position, and the other transducers generate no output signals when said press ram is in a predetermined proximity of its lowermost position, so as to keep the material stationary during the punching.
 4. A puncher for marking devices according to claim 1, wherein said spacers are actuated by solenoids and returned by springs, respectively.
 5. A puncher for marking devices according to claim 1, wherein said transducers are phototransistors. 